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Glean vs Notion AI

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. Notion AI publishes a starting price ($24); Glean does not. Only Notion AI has a free tier. Both ship a public API.

GleanPermission-aware search and agents across company applicationsNotion AIAgents, AI meeting notes and cross-app search built directly into the Notion workspace

Side by side

FactGleanNotion AI
CategoryPersonal & Enterprise SearchDocument Editing & Office Suites
Pricing modelContactFreemium
Starts at—$24 month
Public APIYesYes
PlatformsWeb, API, Slack App, Chrome ExtWeb, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
CompanyGlean TechnologiesNotion Labs, Inc.
Launched20192023
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

Glean

Glean is the reference implementation of permission-aware enterprise search, and permissions are the hard part everyone else underestimates. It is also priced so that only companies with a real sprawl problem can justify it.

Pros

  • Permission inheritance from each connected system is done properly, not approximated
  • Answers cite and link the underlying documents rather than paraphrasing them away
  • Connector coverage across the mainstream SaaS estate is broad
  • Commercially solid: about $300M ARR by May 2026 at a $7.2B valuation

Cons

  • No published price anywhere, and contracts start in six figures
  • Value depends entirely on connector coverage of your specific stack
  • Index quality inherits whatever mess exists in the source systems
  • Overlaps increasingly with Microsoft and Google's bundled offerings, which cost nothing extra

Notion AI

If your team already lives in Notion, this replaces separate meeting-notes and enterprise-search subscriptions with one bundled layer that can actually edit your pages and databases. The catch is the toll: full AI requires the Business tier for every member, and automated custom agents burn metered credits on top.

Pros

  • Agent operates on real workspace objects, not just chat replies
  • Meeting notes and connector-based search are included rather than sold separately
  • Zero data retention with LLM providers is available at the Enterprise tier
  • Mature platform with a documented public API and broad app coverage

Cons

  • Per-member Business pricing makes AI expensive for large casual teams
  • Custom agents consume paid credits once the promotional window lapsed
  • Output quality depends heavily on how well-structured your workspace is

Which one fits

Choose Glean if you need

  • Organisations above roughly 500 people whose knowledge is scattered across a dozen SaaS tools
  • Regulated or security-conscious buyers who need source-system permissions honoured exactly
  • Teams building internal agents that need governed access to company context

Choose Notion AI if you need

  • Teams standardized on Notion for docs, wikis and projects
  • Ops people automating recurring page and database upkeep with scheduled agents
  • Companies consolidating meeting transcription and cross-app search into one tool

More comparisons

All Notion AI alternatives →Browse all Personal & Enterprise Search →